As Omaha prepares to host the final College World Series at historic Rosenblatt Stadium, the NCAA said it's expecting even more fans than the record crowds that turned out last year.

Excitement is starting to build and final preparations are under way for the event, which kicks off with opening ceremonies on Friday.

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"We have the sense that there's going to be a tremendous crowd this year," said Kathryn Morrissey of organizing group College World Series, Inc. "This time of year, the phone never stops ringing."

She said one sign of enthusiasm about this year's event is the huge number of general admission ticket books that were sold over the Internet, a majority of them to out-of-town fans.

"We started out at triple the advance sales," Morrissey said. "It ended up as double the amount of sales we've done online."

Morrissey said one fan coming from out-of-state called after arriving a few days ago, redefining early bird.

"They came up without any tickets, a week in advance, hoping to be here for the last year at Rosenblatt," she said.

On Thursday, some of the local early birds were out along 13th Street, checking out vendors.

Groups like Omaha City Councilman Garry Gernandt's Deer Park Neighborhood Association are bringing in rock to prepare parking lots for the onslaught of cars. He said the lots would be open 12 hours per day.

"We're anticipating keeping every space filled," he said.

CWS Inc. said it's also getting a lot of people calling to find out about tickets for next year's event, the inaugural College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.